1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention relate to bags, and more particularly to a foldable utility bag. Embodiments of the present invention relate generally to soft sided utility bags and packs, and in particular to a soft sided bag with a structure forming a flexible frame system that can provide the soft sided bag with structural definition, integrity, and form, and in various embodiments may also allow the soft sided bag to be foldable.
2. Background and Related Art
Bags are useful for carrying items from one location to another. Bags of many types have been designed for carrying many different types of equipment. Some bags have soft sides to permit flexible storage of items therein. In some instances, placing items in soft sided bags can be difficult as the sides tend to collapse and may get in the way of placing items in the bags. Soft sided packs are generally made wholly with one or more pliable materials, which do not contribute significantly to giving the soft sided bag discernable form or structure. The structure-less nature of the soft sided bags does not provide adequate protection for stored items and can make loading and viewing of contents difficult.
Other bags have hard or stiff sides that can facilitate placing contents in the bags as the hard or stiff sides maintain open one or more inner cavities of the bags. Moreover, hard-sided bags provide greater protection to contents. However, when hard-sided bags are not in use, they are often difficult to store, as the hard sides dictate an increased storage space.
Structure forming frames for bags, packs, and other containers have conventionally been used to provide some measure of form. Structure forming frames are typically made of materials such as wood, nylon, nylon composites, steel, aluminum, spring steel, spring wires, fiberglass, fiberglass reinforced plastic, or plastic (most generally poly vinyl chloride (PVC)), or combinations thereof. For those applications where the frame must be bent or contorted, certain elasticity is required. Elasticity depends on the contents and formation of materials in the structure forming frame. However, creating a structure forming frame using continuous members that are bent or contorted in one portion, and straight in another, is difficult because the tension in one portion of the frame is so easily transferred from one frame member to another. Additionally, most structure forming frames cannot be collapsed.
Thus, existing bags do not provide ideal solutions for all users by providing adequate protection and easy access while also providing a collapsible form that is easy to store and uses continuous framing members that are both bent and straight.